On the 19th. of December Øygarden birder Julian "a-nice-cup-of-tea-and-some-delicious-crackers" Bell photographed an interesting Aythya on Skogsøy in Øygarden (Hordaland county). Julian managed to document the birds bill- and headshape, both indicating Lesser Scaup. Julian, Arild Breistøl and me went out the following day with the intention of clinching it. Despite a thorough search in the rugged landscape, we did not manage to relocate it. Bad luck!

Two days later Julian and fellow birder Nigel Goodgame tried, and this time with results! Clue characters like the spread wing and specific bill features were documented. Great work guys! Result: the first female Lesser Scaup for Norway, and only the fifth ever (if accepted).

Today's weather forecast was not very promising, but by noon the clouds were predicted to contain less water than in the morning. I drove out, parked the car, and worked myself towards the site. When arriving a hint of light could be detected in the south, and beside heavy wind, the weather was good. At first I only got frustratingly distant views of the object. Later, when positioning myself for digiscoping a Scoter that was closer, the Scaup suddenly appeared 150-200 meters away. The low winter sun lit it up, and I got excellent views, but only poor digiscoped pictures... A nice new tick on the county list - both for me and the county ;-)